Fun Way to Learn How to MUN: Roleplay (Mock) Debates! by Zeynep Altun

Once again hello the amazing readers of MUNTurkey.com! It’s so nice to be back at it again writing articles for this website! Today’s article’s topic is Mock Debate.Which, I think Mock Debates are highly important for training before a conference or just getting into MUN and understanding how It is like to debate with another person. So I and my team came up with a better version of them! It is Roleplay Debates!

Roleplay debates can be any topic. It doesn’t have to be related to UN or history, It can be anything! Which means that it is the thing that makes mock debates that fun.I wouldn’T tell them which side they were going to defend during the debate so that was what made these debates that spontaneous and beneficial.

I attended NAMUN 2017 conference as a head delegate and my school gave me the responsibility to teach the 3 first timer delegates how MUN works and make sure they had a successful conference. I started training them for 2 months before the conference and mock debates were really helpful during that time.We had debates about anything we wanted. I would make sure that debates were the topics that they were highly interested in. After I coordinated few mock debates I’ve realized that I wished someone did the same for me before my first conference.

Here are some Mock debate ideas for you.1-Byzantium vs Ottoman Empire in 1453 Conquer Of Istanbul.

This was an original(not sure It is)idea of mine while preparing the 2 delegates.One person was defending Byzantium by pointing out the things that Ottoman did wrong and Ottoman was defending themselves by explaining how the to conquer was done smartly.

2-Bullying

This was one of the hardest debate ideas form y delegates because I switched it up and actually asked for one of them to be the bully and defend what they might have done and I wanted the other one to be the victim. Because in real MUN World, they can face a really shocking crisis and that might happen at their first time.So I wanted them to be ready with this though.

3-Martin Luther vs Catholic ChurchThis Roleplay debate was another one I came up with spontaneously. As you know Martin Luther was the Pioneer of this movement against the Catholic Church and he is the reason Reform happened. So I thought why not make a delegate Martin Luther and the other person Pope of the Catholic Church and see which side would win. I can proudly say that this topic succeded as well. Because the Martin Luther delegate was trying to explain what Catholic Church was doing wrong and the Catholic Church Pope delegate was trying to make Martin Luther accept the conditions of the church. I think this topic made them understand what It’s like to make the chair board accept their Resolution Papers.

4-Realism vs IdealismI think when you’re holding a debate about topics like this It would more beneficial to give realism to the delegate who believes in Idealism in real life. Because at that point, they’ll understand how It is like to get in the mood when you’re debating.Because for example If you’re in DISEC committee, your main focus is disarmament and If you’re switching between defending disarmament and armament, It will make you %90 fail because you’re not prepared for both side. I think It’s better to know how to defend on both sides in case you need to.

So here are 4 ideas for Role Play Debates. If you want to learn the procedure of MUN while having fun with your team, Role Play Debates are the most suitable. My team and I had so much fun getting ready for the conference with these debates. I hope you have a great journey with your team as well.Note: You can always contact me on debate ideas, trust me I have tons!